JULY 1, 2020
The Rest of the Story on DACA
On June 18, the United States Supreme Court blocked a Trump administration plan to end the DACA program that protects about 700,000 young immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation. The court ruled only on whether the administration had acted lawfully, leaving the White House free to try again to end the program.
Just days later, President Trump said he will renew his effort to end the legal protections. “We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly,” he said. Meanwhile, activists continue to fight for a long-term solution for these young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were children.
The real long-term solution appears to be in the hands of Congress, however they are not expected to take it up, along with immigration reform, until after the November election. The status quo will be maintained at least until then as any further court challenges that may result from resubmitted papers will not occur before November.
- The ultimate decision regarding DACA is critical to our entire country, not only to the lives of those affected. Here’s why.
- Dreamers contribute $280 billion to economic growth.
- 91% of DACA recipients younger than 25 are employed while those over 25 years old have an employment rate of 93%.
- Average annual earnings are $36,322 with many attending school.
- About 24% of DACA recipients over age 25 have bought their first home.
- 8% of Dreamers over 25 years old are entrepreneurs and employing workers.
- Millions of small firms around the country rely on Dreamers for a qualified, trained, and stable workforce.
- DACA enrolled and eligible immigrants contribute roughly $2 billion each year in state and local taxes, including personal income, property, sales, and excise taxes.
- DACA eligible workers contribute $1.4 billion in federal taxes, $2 billion in Social Security taxes, and $470 million in Medicare each year.
Dreamers are also an example of the income disparity issues in our country, as Dreamers pay 8.9% on average of their income in state and local taxes, which is higher than that paid by taxpayers in the top 1%.
Work Visas Now Barred
President Trump has signed an order that bars immigrants on H-1B and other work visas through the end of the year. He did so in spite of the fact that nine Republican senators urged him to reconsider because the broad new restrictions on temporary work-visa programs will ultimately hurt U.S. businesses.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and John Cornyn (R., Texas) wrote: “American businesses that rely on help from these visa programs should not be forced to close without serious consideration. Guest workers are needed to boost American business, not take American jobs.”
Estimates are that these new restrictions will block 525,000 people from coming to the U.S., including those already barred by an April order, and affects immigrants who do a wide array of work—from landscaping to technology.
This new order, together with the DACA issue, demonstrate how desperate America is getting to needing a solution to strategically sound immigration reform.
The Pandemic Even Made Staying Open Costly
Big companies are saying they have spent anywhere from hundreds of thousands to almost a billion dollars in Covid-19-related costs, and some are saying they expect the costs to keep rising in coming quarters.
According to a Wall Street Journal review of recent quarterly reports and earnings-call transcripts, those increased costs are the result of a variety of factors, including increased pay for front-line workers, expanded cleaning and sanitization protocols, and the purchasing of coronavirus testing or personal protective equipment. It should be noted that at the same time, some companies and essential retailers also experienced a surge in revenue.
Target Corporation said it expects to spend $1 billion more this year than last on worker-related expenses, including wages, paid leave, and safety equipment such as masks. Target is also keeping its starting wage at $15 an hour, after temporarily raising it in March.
Walmart spent around $900 million in its quarter ended April 30. The company said this included masks, gloves and bonuses for employees, additional cleaning and expanded sick-leave pay.
Home Depot Inc. spent $640 million in the quarter ended May 3 on added employee benefits, which included weekly bonuses and expanded paid time off.
T-Mobile reported it spent $117 million to cover an increase in employee payroll, third-party commissions, and cleaning enhancements.
Among the $20 million in new expenses reported by United Natural Foods were the use of partitions for workers, decals in facilities to maintain social distancing, and increased pay for its 21,000 employees.
AdAge Story Reveals Diversity Issue
Included in Agency News reported in the June 17th issue of AdAge was a story about the diversity make-up of the Dentsu Aegis Network and, according to a leaked memo from its CEO Jacki Kelley, the company’s efforts to build “a truly diverse workplace, absent of discrimination, racism or bias.”
While that is welcome news, the story headline points to an ongoing challenge for U.S. Latinos being recognized, especially in light of their economic impact on the New Mainstream Economy. That headline was as follows:
Not only were Latinos left out of the headline, also causing concern were the data in the story about how the make-up of an organization is matched against Equal Employment Opportunity Commission standards. In the case of Dentsu, the story reported that “3.6 percent of its executives are Hispanic or Latinx, which is in line with the EEOC stat; 5.1 percent of its managers are Hispanic or Latinx (compared to the EEOC stat of 5.4 percent); and 7.2 percent of all Dentsu professionals are Hispanic or Latinx (compared to the EEOC stat of 5.4 percent).”
This raises the important question as to how the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission arrived at its workforce percentage standards ranging from 3.6 percent to 5.4 percent of employees being U.S. Latino, when nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population is U.S. Latino.
This same miscalculation of the presence of U.S. Latinos in our country and their major role in the economy of America, is also revealed in the fact that last year only 3.8% of Mainstream Media advertising was invested in trying to reach U.S. Latinos.
This is just one example of how important L’ATTITUDE is to exposing all of America to the facts and data regarding U.S. Latinos and the New Mainstream Economy.
L’ATTITUDE Opens Registration for 2020 Live-cast Event
Leading CEOs, national media, A-List celebrities, and elected officials will participate in L’ATTITUDE, a national forum to be live-cast to every American interested in capitalizing on U.S. Latino growth, because these leaders understand the U.S. Latino cohort is essential to a full rebound of America’s economy. Registration is now open with sessions set to stream live from studios in New York, Washington D.C., San Diego, and Miami between September 24 and 27.
“In the wake of this global pandemic, which has destroyed industries and crippled our job market, it’s never been more critical to unlock exponential growth,” said Sol Trujillo, co-founder of L’ATTITUDE. “History and data indicate the U.S. economy cannot fully rebound without U.S. Latinos continuing their economic leadership role, and the U.S. Latino market, as part of the New Mainstream Economy that led our country’s recovery from the Great Recession, continues to illustrate how this cohort is driving economic prosperity today, and will for decades.”
U.S. Latinos are the most prolific entrepreneurs in the country, and restarting America’s small businesses will be one of the key topics at L’ATTITUDE. Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle who spearheaded government programs such as PPP, will engage in identifying the best way forward for continuing to support small businesses, and especially U.S. Latino-owned small businesses, many of which were left out of support programs to date.
“With such high awareness of racism in America, it is important to be aware of the more subtle ways it plays out for U.S. Latinos,” added Trujillo. “Not only did Latino small business owners not get equal access to government pandemic support programs, Latinos have for decades found it difficult, if not impossible, to access credit, but in spite of that they have still been able to create over 80% of the net new businesses in the past decade.”
The L’ATTITUDE agenda will include a critical discussion about making capitalism work for the many as opposed to the few. Leaders of the largest financial institutions will discuss transitioning from a 20th century capitalist system that has resulted in 79 percent of the nation’s wealth being concentrated in just five percent of the population, to a 21st century system where capital is deployed more broadly to where growth is now occurring. This session will introduce the concept of distributed capitalism where capital is also applied to education, infrastructure and beyond.
The event will include twenty-four sessions, each featuring live participants gathered together on expansive stages, from a safe social distance, and livecast to a virtual audience. In partnership with top-tier media outlets such as MSNBC, CNBC, FOX Business and the Wall Street Journal, L’ATTITUDE is a ground-breaking initiative creating a national townhall of sorts and engaging the nation’s best and brightest in identifying the strategies for getting America’s economy growing once again.
Included among the diverse sessions are:
- A CEO roundtable discussion of the New Mainstream Economy
- Leading CMOs defining marketing success in the 21st Century
- Conversation with investors regarding who the customers are of the companies in which they’re investing
- Leading policy makers seeking growth for the next decade by solving immigration reform
- Consideration by housing leaders of how America’s housing market is being built on a new foundation
- A dedicated entertainment track featuring emerging Latino stars and casts of major movies and TV shows set to premier in the Fall
“History and data indicate the U.S. economy cannot fully rebound without U.S. Latinos continuing their economic leadership role,” said Gary Acosta, L’ATTITUDE co-founder and NAHREP CEO. “This event ignites a muchneeded dialogue about the massive contributions U.S. Latinos are already making to our economy, and our collective efforts to fuel the rapid restart and robust rebound our economy so direly needs.”
Registered L’ATTITUDE attendees will have an opportunity to engage with individual presenters, panelists, and fireside chat participants. Special chat rooms with media and entertainment stars are planned as well as live entertainment featuring international award-winning Latino performers.
“The agenda for this year’s L’ATTITUDE is more critical than ever, and is why I decided to join Sol and Gary in bringing these powerful leaders to engage in conversations that catalyze our economy’s growth,” added Emilio Estefan, L’ATTITUDE partner. “We need everyone involved and participating as we drive our country’s growth agenda, and valuing and leveraging the U.S. Latino is core to our country’s success.”
To learn more and register for the event, visit www.lattitude.net.